Perhaps it is easier to understand what belief is by saying that it is for those who fear to know. When one begins to grow tired of belief and say to themselves, “I must know,” there is a decisive shift and more of a difference when we finally know Nirvana (akatanññū). The need for belief or faith has been surpassed (asaddho). (This is clearly evident in verse 97 of the Dhammapada.)
Modern Buddhists I'm sure detest the term belief or faith. It reminds them of religion. They are of the mind to assert that Buddhism is not religious — it is a philosophy. Yet, to be a Buddhist one still has to believe that Siddhartha awakened to something real and true having surpassed mere belief by direct intuition of the absolute, which I hasten to add, had nothing to do with sitting under a tree.
If there is one practice in popular Zen that requires a lot of credulity, it is believing that by sitting in meditation you are a Buddha. It is to be found in Sōtō Zen. What is missing is intuition which has nothing to do with the physical ability to sit with legs crossed. Intuition is concerned with overcoming the intellect which is unable to go beyond thought and of course thinking (the act of producing thoughts).
For those like Zen master Dahui 大慧 he warned his students that they must ‘doubt’ words but I also believe that he said they must doubt thought, itself, which humans are deeply tied to; which is only a configuration of spirit (pure Mind, One Mind).
Comments